Not Again
by Phoebe Darling
Summary: I am autistic so not I have a very hard time getting what I want to say on paper. It took all my courage to hit the post button. If you guys can help me finish it that would be amazing. It would give me more courage to post again. Callen gets shot and "dies" twice. Gibbs makes an appearance and Callen, Sam and their team meet MacGyver and his team. Torres and LaSalle help solve it.
1. Callen's Shooting

Callen's Shooting

The Office of Special Projects (OSP) was full of busy people going about their daily lives. The team was just settling in for the day when a shrill whistle caught everyone's attention. Eric Beale, one of their technical analyst, was standing at the top of the stairs. They knew what he was doing to say before he said it.

Sure enough, they hear him say, "case on deck."

Sam Hanna reached Eric first since he took the stairs three at a time. Sams partner "G" (Grisha) Callen was right behind, taking the stairs two at a time. The teams two junior agents Kensi Blye and LA Police Liaison Detective Marty Deeks brought up the rear.

When the two teams of agents walked into their Operations Center (OP's) they were greeted by their tiny, yet incredibly intimidating boss Hetty (Henrietta) Lange.

When everyone came in they were briefed on their new case by Mosley: Last night a shipment of weapons was stolen from Camp Pendleton. When Callen asked what type of weapons were in the load, She motioned to the Technical Analysts Eric and the other side of the "Wonder Twins" Nell Jones to elaborate. Eric and Nell took turns listing the weapons: M-16's, RPG Launchers, Grenades, Land Mines, Prima-cord, Blasting Caps, Detonators, weapons-grade C-4, among other things. "WOW" was the only thing that the group could say.

Hetty responded with "that is enough weapons to start a small war." "We cannot lose this shipment, we have to bring it back."

Callen asks the Wonder Twins if they have any witnesses? A question to which Nell response with "yes, there was one witness."

Callen being the team leader told the junior team of Kenzi and Deeks to go check out the crime scene.

"So you are going to interview the witness" inquired Nell.

Addressing Sam and Callen who respond with a simple nod.

Eric chimes in, "I sent the addresses to your phones."

Before they leave OP's both pairs put their COM's in their ears and do a sound check.

Getting into Sam's car which was a 2017 black Dodge Challenger they settled into companionable silence. A silence that was broken by an ambulance driving by with its sirens on.

When it passes them, Callen looks at Sam and says, "I wonder where they are going."

About five minutes later they arrive at the witness's address. They look at their phones and look up at the house to make sure that both addresses match.

Sam and Callen both approach the front door. When Callen knocks the door swings open. Both draw their Sig- Sauers at once. Weapons at the ready the pair quickly clear each room. Stopping only once. In the dining area just off the kitchen, they find their witness dead. Sam shakes his head at Callen when Sam checks for a pulse. They cleared the rest of the house a few minutes later. Sam tells Eric through COMs, "call the Coroner, we have a dead body here."

While they were waiting for the coroner to arrive, they take a closer look at the body. The victim was shot in the head. The bullet entered in the back of the head and exited out the front of the head. Based on the small amount of blood spatter, the position of the body, the direction the body is facing, the bullet hole in the sliding glass door and the raised edges on the inside they were safely able to deduce that the shooter shot the victim from outside.

"Probably a sniper," Callen comments to Sam.

The dining area was quite large, and the dining table was quite small, so a lot of room was open. Sam was in the kitchen. Callen starts to cross the empty space of the dining area. Looking up Sam sees the red dot of a laser sight on Callen's chest right above his heart. Before he could say the words, "sniper G, get down," two shots ring out. To Sams horror Callen crumbles to his knees then falls back onto his back. Grabbing a white dish towel, he rushes to his partner's side. Pressing the cloth into G's wounds, he attempts to stop the bleeding.

Eric and Nell were screaming into the COMs, " Sam... Callen... can you hear us. What happened".

The sounds of their voices snap Sam out of his daze.

He is finally able to get the words out. " G's been hit. I repeat G's been shot."

Those were the three words he prayed; he would never say again. OPS was silent.

Finally, Sam hears someone say "an ambulance is on its way and should be there in five minutes." Sam recognizes the voice, it was Hetty's.

A dozen years ago to the day Callen was shot multiple times in a drive-by. He took five bullets and survived.

As Sam cradles G's head in his lap, he says " I can hear the ambulance coming. Hang on buddy help is coming".

Looking down at G he sees G take a deep breath. Then nothing. G stopped breathing. Frantically Sam checks for a radial pulse.

Finding no pulse, he screamed, " this can't be happening again."

Starting CPR on his best friend and partner and just hoping that G starts to breathe again. Sam knew G was not shot in the heart because G was breathing two minutes after the shots were fired.

About three minutes later the ambulance arrives on the scene. They introduced themselves as Bill Cassidy and Mary Jane Ross.

Bill asks Sam 'how long has your friend not been breathing".

Sam manages to tell them that "Callen stopped breathing a little over two minutes ago."

Sam was still giving G CPR. He was not going to stop till the medics had the defibrillator charged and ready. Mary orders Bill to charge to 200 joules. When Bill said charged and clear for a shock. Mary zaps G's heart. Bill checks for a pulse. Nothing. Charge to 250. They repeat the process. Again no response. Charge to 300. Yet no response. One more time okay. Charge to 300. Bill checks for a pulse and this time gets one. It was weak, but it was there. Still needing to get Callen breathing the medics intubate him so they can force oxygen into his lungs. Finally, Callen is stable enough to travel to the hospital.

Sitting in the ambulance, Sam flashes back to a dozen years ago when he was in this exact position.

Sam hears Bill radio ahead. "Dispatch notify county we are bringing in a multiple GSW. He's a federal agent".

Both Sam and Mary notice a small twitch in Callen's left hand. That slight twitch develops into a Grand Mal seizure. Mary reached for a vial of Lorazepam, sterile syringe, and a 22 gauge needle from the far drawer. The drug not only stops the seizure but it also stops Callen's heart. Again the medics shock his heart back into sinus rhythm. The ambulance finally arrives at the hospital. The paramedics brought him to Los Angeles County hospital since they have the best trauma center around.

One of the trauma doctors overhears the call. Telling the other trauma staff, "I got this one."

Having served in the military, Dr. Ethan Willis tends to go above and beyond for those who serve. He was a little older than a lot of his peers. Older, but still quite handsome. With a pair of baby blue eyes, the twinkled with mischievousness.

The ambulance pulls into the bay, and the doors fly open. Before Bill or Mary could say anything, Ethan recognizes the man bleeding before him.

Sam could barely hear what Ethan was saying, "Callen what have you done to yourself."

Noticing the look on Sams' face he quickly tells the confused man that he knew Callen from back when Callen worked for the FBI, In fact, Callen saved his life once.

"This is it, it's my chance to repay you for saving my ass," Ethan quietly tells Callen.  
Ethan quickly stabilized his old friend.

Very loudly Ethan shouts to a nurse above the noise of the trauma center. Inquiring if OR 1 was open. "Yes, OR 1 is open", replies the nurse.

"Get the Trauma Surgeon in here stat," orders Ethan.

Rolling Callen's gurney into the OR Ethan has to tell Sam that he couldn't go in. In what he hoped was a reassuring tone Ethan tells Sam, " Don't worry I will be with him the whole time, I owe this man my life so I will not give up on him."

Sam nods silently and releases the death grip he had on Callen's gurney.

The bullets missed Callen's heart by micrometers. They did, however, go through his left lung. Causing a Tension Pneumothorax. The surgeon needed to put in a one-way valve to let the trapped air out but not let outside air in. To do this, he had to put a large 14 gauge needle just above the left lung and feeding a catheter through. After traveling through the lung one bullet lodged itself near Callen's spine. The other bullet ricocheted off a rib. Bouncing around his body like a pinball machine. Causing massive soft tissue damage but miraculously missing all his other vital organs. Eventually stopping just above Callen's Large Intestine on his right side.

To repair the damage, the surgeon had to open Callen up from his left clavicle bone to his right pelvic bone. Locating the first bullet was easy. Removing it, however, was the tricky part. It was dangerously close to Callen's spine. With the first bullet removed they turned their attention to the other bullet. Cutting through muscle on a " treasure hunt" to find and tie off the veins and blood vessels that the bullet tore through. After all, Callen was losing blood as fast as they could put it in. Once they stopped the bleeding, they were able to locate the second bullet. Callen's heart stopped twice during the surgery, but they were able to shock it back into sinus rhythm.

Meanwhile, out in the hospital waiting room, Sam was pacing the full length of the room. Making the staff very nervous. Sam only stopped his pacing when the team walked in. The whole team was there. Hetty, Kenzi, Deeks, Eric, Nell. Hetty called Gibbs at the hospital. Sam could overhear the whole conversation. Hi, Gibbs, it's Hetty. Callen's been shot. How bad is it? It's bad. We're not sure he's going to make it. I'll be there in a few hours. See you then. Hopefully, Callen will survive. Hetty hangs up the phone. Seeing the shocked face of Sam, Hetty explains that Gibbs is listed as Callen's next of kin and Callen is Gibbs next of kin. They are very close.

Gibbs quickly called the lead FBI agent and dear friend Tobias Fornell. After explaining what happened Fornell offers Gibbs the FBI's G-5 jet. Telling Gibbs, it's fueled and ready to go. I was going to use it to fly to NYC for a meeting, but that is a quick drive by car. I'll drive to NYC, and you take the jet to LAX. I'll give the pilot a heads up on the change of plans. Go I'll take care of everything. "Thanks" Gibbs quickly says to his friend. On route to the airport, Gibbs calls Hetty to let her know that he would be there in a few hours. "A car will be waiting for you when you get here, Hetty says to Gibbs. Callen is at Los Angeles County General Hospital.

By the time Gibbs got there, Callen had been in surgery for four hours. It wasn't until Callen had been in surgery for six hours that Ethan came out to talk to Callen's " family." Ethan knew that Callen had no family by blood, but he had a family by choice. Since Callen was in law enforcement, Ethan ushered the team into a private room to debrief them. This is the protocol for Ethan anytime that law enforcers are injured.

Ethan began to explain what happened and why it took so long to repair the damage. "Both bullets missed Callen's heart by micrometers. They traveled through the lungs causing a Tension Pneumothorax. A Tension Pneumothorax is when air gets trapped in the space around the lungs. The pressure causes the injured lung to collapse. Untreated it will eventually cause the heart not to be able to beat. They had relieved the pressure that was building up in Callen's chest cavity. If pressure were not relieved Callen would suffocate".

The surgeon needed to place a 14 gauge needle into the second intercostal space. With the needle in place, the doctor put a catheter through. Then he removed the needle leaving the catheter in place. The pneumothorax needed a one-way valve to let the trapped out but not allow outside air getting in.

Ethan continued to explain the surgery to Callen's team. "The first bullet was easy to locate but complicated to remove. The bullet was very close to his spinal cord, but we were able to remove it. The second bullet was an entirely different story. Before the surgeon could remove it, they had to locate and tie off all the blood vessels and veins that the bullet tore through."

Noticing the confused look the team was giving him, he realized they didn't know the exact nature of Callen's injuries. "One bullet lodged itself near Callens spine the other ricocheted off a rib and ended up just above Callen's large intestines."

Hetty nodded her head in understanding.

Ethan continued with his explanation. " we had to make a large incision on Callen. The incision went from just below his left clavicle bone all the way to just above Callen's pelvic bone." "His heart stopped twice, but we were able to restart it. When he finished, he calmly walked out of the room. Before he left, he told the team that Callen is getting settled into the private recovery room. They could come back to visit him in a few minutes."


	2. Callen Wakes

Callen Wakes

The team only had to wait for five minutes before Ethan returned to lead them to Callen's room. The hospital rule is just two people in the recovery rooms. However, Ethan decided to bend the rules a little and let the whole team see Callen for a few minutes. As they were walking in Sam stopped in his tracks. That can't be his partner in that bed. Callen was intubated and was attached to a ventilator.

"Don't be alarmed Callen is only attached to the ventilator to make it easier for him to breathe on his own," Ethen assured Sam.

No one on the team could believe that the man before them was their tough team leader who only yesterday was leading them into a building full of Armenian arms dealers. After about five minutes Ethan let them know that only two could stay. Sam refused to leave. Okay, only one other team member could visit but who? They all wanted to stay. Gibbs was the obvious choice since he could just stay for a few days.

Hetty told Gibbs, "We are going down to get dinner in the cafeteria but will be back an about an hour and a half."

Before she left Hetty whispered in Callen's ear so only he could hear it.

"Grisha, how many more times can you fight for your life before you just give up. I pray that we never have to find out."

The two men pulled up the chairs to Callens bed taking one of his hands and holding them. It is 2130 Gibbs says pointing to the clock on the wall above the door. The next thing they know it was 2300. They must have fallen asleep. The only thing that woke them was the sound of Callen's alarms going off. He was having another seizure. It was worse then the last time Sam thought to himself. At that time Ethan was back in the trauma center. The doctor that came in was a different doctor. "Who are you," asked Gibbs. "I'm Dr. John Carter, a friend of Ethan's". "Gloria get the crash cart in here, hand me a syringe of Phenobarbital," "Ethan told me about Callen's bad reaction to Lorazepam," John told Sam. The Phenobarbital stopped the seizures but again stopped Callen's heart.

It took a few minutes to get to where Callen was. Ethan charges in when he got to the room. The rest of the team come off the elevator into chaos. Hetty grabs the arms of the first nurse she sees and demands to know what the hell was going on. The entire team run up to Sam and Gibbs in the hall. The men stood transfixed to the spot. Watching through the glass wall as Ethan and the rest of the team worked desperately to get Callen's heart beating again. Ethan tried everything. Injecting both Adrenaline and Epinephrine twice and shocking his heart countless times. After thirty minutes he had to call it.

To the group's horror, they hear him say," Time of Death 2330". Sam loses it at this time. Screaming, "This can't be happening again, first Michelle now G." Sam was the only one who could not allow himself to say goodbye. It wasn't until 0030 that Sam finally got the courage to say goodbye. Ethan was in there getting Callen's body ready for the coroner. Shutting the curtains of the room Ethan gives Sam some privacy. Sam held onto Callen's hand one last time. Turning to leave Sams could swear that Callen squeezed it back. Looking up in time to see Callen gasp for air.

"You're Alive," Sam screamed at the top of his lungs.

Ethan, who hadn't seen Callen, was just going to tell Sam it was a muscle spasm. Then he saw Callen open his eyes. The seasoned doctor stood dumbfounded at what was before him.

Finally, he was able to say what he was trying to say.

"Never have I seen it, I've heard it happen but never has he seen it with his own eyes."

Upon hearing Sams screams the team came rushing in. Sam could see that Gibbs and Hetty had been crying. Callen's baby blue eyes were open for only a few minutes until Ethan, and Dr. John Carter came in to talk to Hetty about Callen's medical needs.

"Callen suffered a traumatic injury, and it would be best for him to be put in a medically induced coma. We will put him on life support. This will give Callen's body time to heal without also having kept himself alive" John finishes talking.

Hetty asks Ethan if he agreed with Johns prognosis. When Ethan nods in agreement, Hetty agrees.

Now, how to tell the team, that their team leader who they just got back needs to be put into a coma.

"Sam is NOT going to be happy," Hetty tells herself.

It was no surprise that Sam said he was not about to let that happen to his partner. Ethan pulled Sam aside and explained the essential nature of it, as well as, reminding Sam that sleep allows the body to heal. Forcing a deep sleep and putting him on life support will allow G's body to focus on healing and healing alone. Sam hung his head in defeat. Fine, we can do it, but I will NOT be leaving G's side.

Hetty knew that she was never going to be able to send Sam home. Well, she could order him, but she knew Sam would ignore her.

Dr. Carter interjected, " I'll bring in a cot for Sam to sleep in."

Both Ethan and Carter told Sam that he could use the doctor's shower. That way Sam wouldn't have to leave his friend and partners side. Sam made sure G was never alone. Going to take a shower only when the nurses came in to check G's vitals.

Before they put him in the coma, they moved Callen into his own room. Private rooms don't have a restriction on the number of visitors. Kenzi and Deeks stopped by every day after work to bringing dinner to Sam. The junior agents would stay for dinner. Eating in the room since they knew Sam was not willing to leave G's side. Gibbs remained at the hospital with Sam for two weeks. The Director of NCIS Leon Vance called Gibbs back to DC. They had a significant case come in. Hetty would come in to visit every morning and bring Sam breakfast. The Wonder Twins had the lunch shift. Hidoko and Mosley would come in every once in a while and give Sam a sit-rep on Callen's case.

The doctors kept Callen in the medically induced coma for about three months. The incision had just nearly healed completely. Slowly weaning Callen off the drug used to keep him in the coma. The doctors spent a week getting him off the pill. A week after getting taken off life support and being weaned off the drugs G still hadn't woken up. Sam was getting a little bit concerned, but the doctors didn't seem too interested. Ethan would come in before every shift just to check on G. Dr. Carter assigned a nurse to take care of Callen and only Callen. Her name was Dawn Ross. She was a small woman who reminded Sam of Hetty. Dawn was intimidating yet had a gentle hand with G. Dawn was assigned Callen when Hetty learned that Dawn was fluent In both Russian and Romani.

Callen responded very well to Russian and Romani lullabies. His mother would sing them to him when he was a little boy. When he lived with Hetty, she would sing them to stop the nightmares he was prone too. Sam knew better than to wake G from his sleep. Waking G was a great way to get yourself killed. Well, maybe not killed but wake him up at your own risk. G was known to go from dead asleep to dressing with his Sig-Sauer in his hand locked and loaded within the blink of an eye. They didn't have to worry about startling G now since he was still in a coma. Sam watched his partner sleep he thinking to himself, "at least G's not having nightmares." While Sam sat watching his partner sleep, he could hear the rain falling outside. G loves the rain he thought to himself. Why hasn't G woken up by now?

The doctors didn't start to get worried about Callen until he had been off the drugs for two months and still has not woken up. They decided to run some diagnostics tests to see if there was a medical reason why Callen hadn't woken up. The tests revealed nothing. There was no physical reason why Callan was still in the coma. It was as if he didn't want to wake up. Asking Sam if there was anyone that he could call to try to talk G into waking up. G's whole team have been trying to do that for months. Sam had an epiphany. Gibbs, he hasn't gotten Gibbs to try to get Callen to wake up.

Sam called Gibbs, "Gibbs it's Sam, G was in a drug-induced coma for months. Now he had been off the drugs for months. Doctors say there was no medical reason why Callen is still in the coma. We all have tried to talk him into waking up. I was wondering if you could come over and try."

Gibbs said, "Sam I'll be on the next flight out. I will fly cargo if I have too. I will be there in a few hours".

Sam called Hetty to pick Gibbs up at the airport and take him to the hospital. Gibbs got there and went right into G's room. Sam thought that he would give them some time alone. When Sam was gone, Gibbs went full drill sergeant on Callen. Apparently, this tactic worked. Callen opened his eyes and just looked at Gibbs. This is just what Gibbs wanted. Quickly pressing the nurse call button. That was the first time Sam had left his partner with anyone who wasn't a nurse or a doctor in five months.

When he got back from lunch, he was speechless when he saw G's baby blues open. Callen couldn't say anything while he was intubated. Dawn knew that there was only one person who should take the intubation out.  
"Get Ethan Willis in the Trauma Center. He should be here," Dawn told an orderly.

Ethan was just walking into work when he heard someone say, " Callen's awake come quick."

Ethan just about flew up the stairs. Taking them three at a time. He came bursting into Callen's room. His blue eyes met Callen's blue eyes.

"Welcome back G, Do you remember me?" Callen tried to talk, but Ethan stopped him. "Wait a minute I need to get the intubation out first." "When I say to I need you to cough. So I can take this thing out." G nodded in understanding. Immediately after the intubation tube was gone, Sam gave G some ice chips to moisten his throat. G is finally able to answer Ethan's question. "I remember you, weren't you in the military the last time I saw you." To which Ethan responds, " I got discharged from the military. The trauma center here hired me." Ethan finished talking and turned to Sam and nodded.

Sam and Ethan walked out into the hall to talk. Ethan asked Sam what happened to G to wake him up. You have been trying for months to no avail. Sam could only say one word, "Gibbs." Ethan was a little confused. "What's a Gibbs." Sam chuckled a little. "Gibbs was the other man in G's room. I called him this morning and asked him to come and try to wake G. I don't know how Gibbs did it though. They both walked back into G's room and asked Gibbs how he woke G up. Gibbs just smiled to himself and told them his policy on stubborn people who didn't listen. "It's amazing what a slap upside the head does," he finished. " Never underestimate the power a drill sergeant has to scare someone awake. Sam and Ethan were both dumbstruck. "You head slapped a coma patient awake," Ethan said incredulously. Gibbs just answered it with a one-word answer "yeah." Sam and Ethan agree not to tell Hetty that Gibbs slapped her boy awake. They all look over at Callen who was sleeping peacefully.

Sam decided not to call Hetty but instead let her have Callen show her his baby blues himself. About six hours later Hetty walks in with Sams breakfast. While they sat and ate Callen scared the shit out of Hetty. Out of nowhere, she hears him say "Where's my breakfast." Looking up she is rewarded with a pair of baby blue eyes and her heart just about burst with joy. Throwing her arms around her boy, she hugged and kissed him. The trio devised a plan to scare the rest of the team. Hetty went about the daily business. At lunchtime, she sends the Wonder Twins to bring Sam his lunch.

Again Callen pretended to sleep. Halfway through lunch, he says, "Hey Eric where's my lunch."

Eric and Nell fell out of their chairs. Nell and Eric stayed for a while and talked with Callen. Leaving at the time that they usually would. They didn't want Kenzi and Deeks to get suspicious. After the Wonder Twins left, Sam went down and got Callen some soup from the cafeteria.

That night when the junior agents came with Sams dinner, Callen pulled the ultimate prank. As Kenzi leaned in to kiss his forehead good night, he opened his eyes. This had the best response. Kenzi screamed. Deeks screamed cause Kenzi screamed. Looking over at Sam and Gibbs they knew that was just pranked. Playfully Kenzi slapped Callen's arm. It was good to have him back. Even if it means pranks and shenanigans.

Callen was asleep before Kenzi and Deeks left. Gibbs and Sam stayed with G all during the night. The next morning Hetty called on Ethan to talk about what is next for her boy. Ethan told Hetty, "There was a riot this morning the inmates will be in Callen's wing. We had to move him to another secured wing. He has another federal agent as a roommate."


	3. Old Friends and New Friends

Old Friends and New Friends

Hetty went to go check on Sam and Callen. Getting off the elevator was like stepping out into a war zone. What the hell is going on here?"Where's Callen?" Those were the questions Hetty was asking Callen's nurse Dawn.

"Early in the morning there was a riot at the local prison, we had to move him to another secured wing on the other side of the hospital. The injured inmates will be in this section."

Was the answer Hetty got. Dawn went on to state, "Callen is sharing the room with another injured federal agent who was stabbed a few days ago."

When Hetty got to Callen's new room, they found Sam and Gibbs waiting outside. Sam told her that they were giving Ethan time to get Callen settled into his new room and to get acquainted with his new roommate. Out of the room, you would have no idea what was going on inside.

Callen was in his bed talking to a much younger blonde agent. They talked about their jobs and co-workers. Callen asked what his roommate's name was.

The younger blonde agent replied, "Angus MacGyver, but everyone calls me Mac."

When Mac asked him what his name was Callen did something he had only done once before. With Ethan in the room, Callen gave Mac his real name. Telling Mac to call him Grisha.

Since most federal agents work in pairs, Mac asked Grisha what his partner was like.

Callen told Mac about Sam, "my partner and I have worked together for nearly fifteen years. He's not only my partner, but he's also my best friend and my brother.

Grisha told Mac about his partner, so Mac told Grisha about his partner.

Mac told Callen "my partner and I have worked together for a long time. My best friend Bozer and I have been friends since the sixth grade. I fact when my grandpa died Bozer's family took me in.

Both Mac and Callen had similar childhoods. Both of their moms died. Both dads left them when they were young. Where Mac's friend stepped up when his grandpa died, Callen was in the foster care system.

Callen wasn't prepared for the response he got when he asked his roomie, "What's your partner's name." Ethan left before Mac answered.

When Mac answered "Jack Dalton."

"CIA Jack Dalton," Callen was barely able to get the words out.

Mac was very confused with the question. "Yea, do you know him?" was all he could reply with.

But then the door opened and G's partner and his boss, as well as Gibbs, came in. Callen introduces them to his new friend. Mac this is my partner Sam and my boss Hetty and a very close friend Jethro Gibbs. Guys this is Mac. After pleasantries were exchanged G noticed that Mac's side of the room was very empty. While his side had chairs, a table, and a wheelchair.

Callen was asking himself why Mac's area was so empty.

Mac was very alert and answered Callen's question before he could ask it. "I tend to take things apart and create something totally different out of the parts."

At this exact time, Mac's partner walks in. Stopping in his tracks, he recognized Mac's new roommate. He also picked out someone else in the room. "Gibbs as I live and breathe, how you been," Jack shakes Gibbs' hand.

Turning his attention to Mac's new roommate, Jack said: "G Callen you old dog long time no see."

Now everyone was speechless, well everyone but Jack, Callen, and Gibbs. Callen then filled everyone in on how the three knew each other.

With everyone there, Mac asks G a question. "Grisha, how do you know Jack."

Both Sam and Hetty's jaws dropped not to mention Gibbs. Callen has never given someone his real name as far as they knew since he found out what the G meant. Everyone still called him either G or Callen. Gibbs wasn't even aware what the G stood for.

Callen answered with "the three of us worked on a few CIA NCIS joint task force Ops."

For the following few hours Jack, G and Gibbs quietly reminisce on their shared Ops. So softly that only they could hear. Hetty had left to let the boys get to know each other. This left Mac and Sam to get to speak. A half an hour into the conversation Gibbs left the room to make a phone call and get dinner. To state the truth Gibbs wasn't really hungry, nor was his phone call that important. He was just happy Callen starting to get better. He wanted to have the younger agents talk and catch up.

Sam said to Mac "I am a former Navy Seal before I joined NCIS. As a SEAL I was a member of a very small unit that did missions that were beyond the capabilities of conventional military forces. We would come in by the water and go away in the water. Callen has been my partner for at least fifteen years".

Soon enough it was Mac's turn.

Mac told Sam "I served in Afghanistan. I was an EOD tech. I would disarm IEDs and other bombs. That's where Jack and I met! He was my security. One time I saved him from a massive IED in Kabul. Jack stepped on a pressure plate. If he moved, the IED would go off. Boy was Jack glad I didn't listen to him when he told me to leave him. I normally like to take my time disarming bomb if I'm able. This time we had less than 2 minutes. That was really a close call. I even remember stopping an IED using a gum wrapper and a radio battery".

Now Sam was skeptical about that last part. Mac was able to convince Sam that he actually did that by showing Sam that he could take one thing and make something completely different from the pieces. Mac showed Sam how to make an exploding dart from a ballpoint pen, gunpowder from one of Sam's guns, a blasting cap from a bullet and a piece of paper. Sam opened the window, and Mac through the dart right before the pen dart exploded. That convinced Sam that Mac was the real deal.

The small explosion caught Jack and Callen's attention. Jack sarcastically said, "There you go showing off again."

Callen's jaw dropped. "He does that often," Callen asked Jack.

Jack and Mac said in unison " we improvise."

Outside the room, Hetty walked into Mac's boss Maddy. The two tiny ninjas figured that they gave the boys enough privacy. Walking in the door Jack and Callen looked up like they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Callen it's good to see you. Just wish it was under better circumstances", Maddy said to the shocked room.

Well everyone was shocked but him and Jack. Callen introduces his boss Hetty and partner Sam to his old boss from the CIA Matilda Webber. After introductions, the group settled down to shoot the breeze.

Mac asks Maddy if Bozer and Riley would be coming to visit tonight?"

Callen said to Hetty, "Are Kensi and Deeks coming over tonight?"

"I'll call Bozer and Riley to find out what time they were coming," Maddy said to Mac.

Hetty responded with, "Kensi and Deeks will be here anytime soon, and the Wonder Twins will be bringing you breakfast in the morning."

Mac was like "I'm afraid to ask but who are the Wonder Twins."

Callen and Sam let out a suppressed chuckle. "They are our technical analysts," Sam was finally able to make out the words.

Jack chimed in with "we have one of those, Riley."

Nearly an hour later Hetty and Maddy left the boys to talk. After another hour or so Kensi, Deeks, Riley, and Bozer met in the hall. Going up the elevator together. Walking into the boy's room as a group. G and Mac introduce each other to their teams. Deeks went out to get dinner for all of them. When he got back, the teams practically jumped him for their burgers.

"Did you bring me a double-double with animal style fries?", G anxiously asked the junior agent.

"Would I bring you anything less?" said Deeks with a smile.

"Better not," G said with the little smirk he's famous for.

Before Callen could ask Deeks finished by saying "I also brought everyone a chocolate shake too."

They all ate and laughed together until the nurse came in to say visiting hours are over.

Neither Mac nor G wanted their partners to leave. Mac sleeps well at his own house but nowhere else without Jack watching his back. G rarely sleeps anyway, but he sleeps better when Sam is there to watch his back. Neither one likes hospitals.

Finally, Sam piped in. " I'll stay tonight, and Jack will stay tomorrow night."

Ethan stopped by to check in on his friend. When he left them G and Mac weren't actually tired. To pass the time Mac got the pens that Jack went for him, combined with bullets from Sam's gun and note paper G had and made about 2 and a half dozen exploding dart pens. G asked Sam to shut the door to prevent the staff from walking in and ruining their fun. For an hour or so the two agents played a game of who could throw a pen further before it blew up. Sam was the perfect judge. The boys used about a dozen before they got tired. Sam continued to watch the boys back. He stayed to wait all night.

Now Sam and Jack were spending all day every day with Callen and Mac. Jack was used to Mac going all Bill Nye with him. Sam, however, had never seen G that excited about science as he was with Mac. G tended to tease other people who he sees as nerds. When in reality he is a bit of a science geek himself. Ethan was still stopping by, but now he was bringing the boys the medical supplies they needed for their little science experiments. Mac showed Grisha how to make elephant toothpaste. It was a chemistry activity that Mac used to teach a middle school class from his old school a lesson on rapid chemical reactions.

Now how to get the supplies needed to do it. Jack was going on a snack run so Mac asked him to bring the three items that they couldn't find in a hospital. They needed dish soap and food coloring. The 30% hydrogen peroxide and potassium iodide the hospital had in spades and Ethan would bring them. Now Sam was drinking a bottle of beer which he smuggled in the hospital. When he was done, G asked for the container to do the experiment in. As soon as Jack brought the needed supplies into the room, Mac and G asked Jack to shut the door. This was a fun experiment to do, and it was a quiet one. Mixing the peroxide, dish soap and food coloring first they just needed to add the potassium iodide. They let Sam have the honors since he never saw elephant toothpaste before. Sam put the bottle on the floor in the middle of the room and added the iodide. Within seconds a thick foam erupted into the air and onto the floor.

The next day Mac and G made mini hot air balloon/ blimps using new I.V bags tin foil, rubbing alcohol, which Ethan had brought them. They just needed a match to light the alcohol a fire but smoking is not allowed in the hospital. Mac remembered when he makes a flame using a gum wrapper and a battery. Taking the battery out of G's phone and using a gum wrapper from Jack they were able to get the balloons up. Unfortunately, they drifted out the window leaving the group a little bummed.

A few days later Mac was due to be discharged from the hospital in a few days. G was more mobile but still a little weak. While Hetty was on her way to visit Callen in the hospital, she got an alarming phone call from ops. During the ongoing investigation into Callen's shooting the team of agents who were on loan from NCIS units in New Orleans and Washington DC were able to locate the shipment of weapons that were stolen from Camp Pendleton.

"Are you telling me that ALL of the stolen weapons were accounted for. The truck is not missing anything", Hetty asked Eric.

"Yes according to LaSalle and Torres all the weapons were accounted for" Eric replied with. "Nell and I found the truck with help from kaleidoscope. Inside the truck, LaSalle and Torres found all the weapons were accounted for."

Hetty's mind was racing. "Why would someone steal weapons if you were just going to leave them? What was the point?" Hetty was asking herself. When she had an epiphany, "Oh My God G was targeted."

Hetty told herself out loud. As soon as that idea dawned on her, she called Sam.

"Didn't leave Callen and Mac alone, he was the actual target. The weapons theft was a way to get NCIS involved. Hetty told Sam. She continued "The shooter must have known that Callen was the leader and would, therefore, choose to go interview the witness. If the witness saw anything and was not a victim of opportunity".

As far as Hetty was concerned Callen was in no condition to defend himself. He was alive and back to normal just a little weak. She had to protect her Grisha.

Hetty was very surprised to learn that G was the target. The theft was a means to get N.C.I.S involved. Whoever shot G wanted to kill him. When she found out about that she quickly called Sam.

"Don't leave Callen alone and tell Jack not to do it either," Hetty said to Sam.

As far as Hetty was concerned Callen was in no condition to defend himself. He was alive and back to normal just a little weak.

.Just transferring from my iPod to my iPad


	4. Attack and Escape

As Sam got to G's room, the door was closed. By now this was perfectly normal since G and Mac often shut the door to play with the "toys" that Mac and G built. The mini hot air balloons, the DIY air horns, and the exploding dart pens were a little loud, and the nurses already came in and told the boys that they better not hear any more noises coming out of their room. When Sam could not open the door, he got a little concerned. The door appeared to be stuck, so Sam pushed it harder putting his shoulder into it. The door still won't open, so Sam had to motion the nurse's attention. He had to open that door at all costs. After half an hour of trying to open the door with nothing to show for it Sam eventually was forced to shoot the door handle off. When the door still wouldn't open Sam started to panic so with a running start Sam rammed his shoulder into the door. As the door finally opened Sam was horrified by what he saw. There laying up against the door was an unconscious doctor. The room looked like a bomb had gone off in there.

It was like a blood bath that had occurred in the room with both beds being empty. Blood was spattered on the wall and on the ceiling as well as large pools of blood on both beds. Two bullets have deeply embedded both mattresses with a gun and silencer laying on the floor under G's bed. Laying on the floor near Mac's bed was a knocked out nurse. There in the middle of the room was the scorch marks of a small IED along with the remains of about a dozen exploding darts. To Sams utter shock were a little used syringe and a shattered vial of Ketamine near the nurse.

Sam just knew G and Mac were dead. No one could survive losing that much blood. After he called Ethan to come up to G's room, Sam had to make the hardest call of his life. He had to call Hetty and tell her that G was missing and probably dead. The sheer amount of blood was enough to convince Sam that G was killed no one else would let themselves accept that G and Mac were dead. Dead with a body would have been hard enough to accept the boy's death. Hetty and Maddy wanted to know how the shooters could get inside a secured wing of a hospital without being seen.

Hetty and Maddy demanded to see the surveillance video of Mac and G's room. With both teams around the bosses ran the security footage. The footage showed a doctor and nurse who Ethan said didn't work in that hospital enter the room and lock the door. The doctor then preceded to shoot the camera. Hetty just said, "bugger" under her breath. Sam had noted that the gun had a silencer on it. What the footage would have shown was absolutely insane.

The doctor had approached G who was in bed. G had just woken up from a nap so his reflexes were a little slower than they would normally be. Mac saw the gun before G. He then threw his metal tray at the gunman. Knocking the weapon out of his hand. The nurse turned her attention to Mac. Obviously, they had to get the annoying younger man out of the way. She attempted to inject Mac with a massive dose of Ketamine. Merely to get him out of the way. She and Mac wrestle over the syringe. Eventually, Mac is able to get it away from her and inject the .0015 cc's into her instead. It renders her not just unconscious but puts her into a coma.  
Ketamine is a potent horse tranquilizer. It only takes about .15 ccs to knock out an 800-pound horse. With the nurse out of commission, they still had the doctor to deal with. When the doctor tries to smother G, G manages to push him back driving the shooter away. G starts to throw the dozen or so exploding darts that Mac gave him to play with the night before along blowing the little air horns they made the day before towards shooter as a distraction. One of the darts exploded close enough to the doctor's head to knock him out for a while. This bought Mac time to put together a concussion grenadine to knock the "doctor" out for a long time. A concussion grenadine does what it sounds like. It gives the victims a concussion. It not fatal but gives a killer headache. Despite these people trying to kill him, Mac could never knowingly kill anyone. After the attempted murder on both of them. G and Mac decided to bolt. Before they could bolt, they had to convince everyone that they died without a body. They needed a lot of blood. To do so, they took turns sneaking into the blood bank and stealing about four pints of blood each. Making sure to get their own blood type. The DNA test would take a while, but blood typing can be done in minutes. Mac needed to disable the surveillance camera in the blood bank to get in and out without being seen. They just needed to remove the top sheet on their beds. Once they had the blood, they poured two and a half pints of blood on their bed sheets and one on the floor below. Using the last half a pint to drip off of the bed and to splatter it on the walls by the beds. Firing two bullets into each bed. The pair even removed the bullets to hinder the investigation. When the "doctor" starts to stir it was now or never. Mac threw the concussion grenade he built into the room and shut the door. They hear it go off. They bolt out the door taking the empty blood packs with them. When the grenadine went off, it knocked the doctor unconscious. The explosive effect of the grenadine threw the doctor up against the door effectively jamming it. There was no going back now. The emergency exit only unlocks during an emergency. Mac had to reverse the magnets holding the door shut. Reverse the magnets open the door. He's done it before. He could do it again.

Now both teams were devastated by the deaths of the agents. G's team had already lost him once. When he died before he had an adverse reaction to Phenobarbital. He was given that drug to stop a seizure.

Mac's team, however, were having a tough time with it since they didn't even have a body to mourn over. Nothing like this ever happened to Mac's team. Two years previous Bozer was stabbed and almost died. Mac always seemed to avoid any significant injury.

Kensi was beyond grief stricken. She couldn't even look in the room. All that blood was Callen's. She just knew that she lost Callen forever this time.

Sam was again blaming himself. "I shouldn't have ever left G alone. If I remained in the room maybe they would still be alive", Sam could be overheard saying. Going on to say," It's my fault he's dead. I failed him. I failed my wife. What is wrong with me."

Jack wasn't doing any better than Sam. He said to himself, "I should have been in the room. Our schedules should have overlapped. Somebody should have always been there." "I had one job, and that was to protect Mac. I failed my friend."

Riley and Bozer wouldn't even let themselves accept Mac's death without a body despite the massive amount of blood. They knew no one could survive losing that much blood.

Deeks was just a nervous wreck. His characteristically thick scruffy blonde hair was now thin and more unkempt than usual. He was quiet. Being a nervous talker, this was unnerving to Kensi.

Eric and Nell were pouring over the hospital surveillance cameras looking for any clue on how the attacker's got in. They found how the attacker's got in. A guard who was supposed to be protecting the secured wing left his station for a few minutes. The guard was paid to look the other way.

Both Hetty and Maddy were beyond pissed. "How the hell did a fake doctor and nurse get into a secured wing of the hospital. Let alone get a gun inside the hospital" both bosses were overheard saying to the head of security.

Gibbs was the only one who was thinking clearly. He calmly called Torres and LaSalle to process the new crime scene. Someone who was attached to neither Agent Callen or MacGyver needed to process the scene. Someone was needed to gather the evidence and secure the crime scene.

During the chaos of a coding patient G and Mac were able to slip out of the hospital dressed as orderlies. They even leave their clothes and cell phones in the room. Along the way out they drop the empty blood packs into a hazmat bin. Once out of the hospital they take a bus to G's house. His home was bought under an alias. Actually Hetty bought it for him under one of his many aliases. Nobody knew where he lived except Hetty, Sam and maybe an old friend Arkady Kolcheck. His girlfriend Anna knew where he lived, but she was undercover with the ATF. G has disappeared many times before and tends to pop up where no one anticipates. If G wants to withdraw, he does, and you aren't going to find him. Mac had to admit he was really impressed with G's ability to disappear into a crowd. Mac wanted to go to his house and get a few things, but Grisha wouldn't have it. Bozer lived with Mac. Bozer had to think Mac was dead. They just went to G's house since everyone thought they were killed. G knew Sam might go to his home if only to process the death of his best friend.

The following morning Mac turned on the news and watched a news story on ZNN about their death. Next to photos of the agents were the words Two federal agents were murdered in their recovery room at the hospital. The killer is still at large. Persons of interest are in custody. Now Mac wanted to call Jack to tell him that he was alive. G told Mac that everyone had to go about life as if G and Mac were dead. They were obviously being followed. If someone came to G's house that was an entirely different thing.

Now Sam was absolutely devastated that he had lost his partner. His greatest fear was confirmed. He feared losing his partner more than anything. He had failed at his job of protecting Callen. Asking Jack to come with him to go and just check G's house. Perhaps they could find a clue to who killed G and in theory Mac. Mac was not originally a target but instead became one when he stopped them from killing Callen in the hospital. Mac didn't know Grisha, but he was not about to let someone get murdered in front of him if he could stop it. Jack agreed to accompany Sam to G's house. If for anything to aid his new friend in processing the death of a mutually close friend. G Callen might have been a friend of Jacks, but he was Sam's partner, brother and best friend.

Close to lunchtime G and Mac heard two cars pull up. G told Mac one car could have been Sam, but two vehicles were trouble. Hurriedly G and Mac slipped into the crawl space below the house. When Sam got to the G's door, he stopped. Was it just him or was there movement in G's house. Nodding to Jack, he pulled his SIG- Sauer and slowly opened the door. With Jack beside him, he slowly and methodically clear every room of the house. With the rooms cleared both Sam and Jack holster their guns. From G's point of view, they were intruders. When the intruders were in the back bedroom G snuck up on them with Mac closely behind. He recognizes the backs like those of Sam and Jack. Sam and Jack didn't hear him until he cocked the hammer of his SIG-Sauer.

When Sam and Jack hear the sound of a gun cocking, they freeze. Putting their hands up they slowly turn around to confront the gunman. Sam and Jack were startled but thrilled by the sight of their friends very much alive. Both men wanted to kill their friends for scaring them like that. The relief was palpable when Sam and Jack watched their respective partners very much live. There was a great deal of yelling and a lot of tears. Now Sam and Jack understood why the boys did what they did. However, they also demanded that G and Mac go with them to the boat shed. G and Mac went into the interrogation room in the boat shed to hide. Sam and Jack took off back to the mission to muster the teams to the boat shed. Not before they turned off the screen in the boat shed. The screen showed what was going on in interrogations. Now everyone came in thinking that perhaps Sam and Jack found something at G's house. Something that would help find the gunman. When G heard everyone talking, he knew what Sam wanted him to do. He actually wanted just to take Mac and slip out through the trap door of interrogation. The trap door opens to the harbor below. Deciding against that route, Callen gets Mac's attention, and they head to the doorway.

Meanwhile, outside interrogation Sam turns the screen back on. Both teams did a collective gasp. There before them was G and Mac very much alive. The group could hear the interrogation room door open and saw G and Mac walk out. Kensi and Nell were crying, Gibbs wanted to slap them but checked himself. Hetty and Maddy were pissed but also thrilled that their boys were alive. Deeks, Bozer, Eric, and Riley were speechless. That was saying something since both Bozer and Deeks were nervous talkers. Well, Eric was a nervous talker but nowhere near at bed as Deeks and Bozer. Silence makes them all very worried. If it's quiet, they often talk to themselves.

Both Hetty and Maddy demanded to know what took place. Mac and G described in detail the attack and how they faked their own deaths. The tiny bosses also wanted to know how the boys faked their deaths and how they got out without being seen. After Mac had short-circuited the blood banks camera system, Mac and G both snuck into the blood bank. Swiping bags of blood totaling four pints each that were their blood type to put on their beds and on the ground. Mac overrode the emergency exit, and they took the empty bags of blood to a hazardous waste bin that are all over the hospital. They needed to get out of there since someone had got a kill squad into a secured hospital wing. The guard was obviously paid to look the other way. They then slipped out into the hospital lobby and out the door.

When Hetty asked them, "why didn't you push the nurse call button when you were in trouble?"

Calmly Callen told the tiny ninja, " We didn't push the nurse call button to keep the actual doctor and nurses alive. We both knew that if these people were willing to kill Mac they would kill anyone who got in their way. We needed to protect the staff from the killers."

Hetty nodded silently in understanding.

Now first thing first. Hetty had to call Ethan to let him know that Callen was alive. While they waited for Ethan to get to the boat shed to check on the boys, Hetty had some questions. Why would someone steal weapons and not sell them? Why would someone kill a witness? Why would someone shot G if they could escape without shooting him? Who would want G dead? Why would someone try to kill him a second time? Who would wish to G dead bad enough to be willing to kill an innocent bystander? Those were a bunch of questions that needed to be answered to build a case against his shooter. They were assuming that the shooter was the one who wanted Callen dead.


	5. Case Closed

CASE CLOSED

Deeks and Kensi were dispatched to the witnesses house following Callen's shooting. The house itself was a modest two bedroom two bath bungalow. Constructed in the mission style during the 1940's. It held a very large living room/ dining room combo. Dividing the two rooms was a very high end leather couch. On one side was a nice glass coffee table and the rest of the living room. The other side had a very small square dining table. Built to seat two people. The area could accommodate a dining table for a dozen people with room to spare.

Walking into the dining area Kensi froze in her tracks. There on the white tile floor was a huge pool of blood. It was Callen's blood. Not five feet from where Callen fell was the chalk outline of where Callen and Sam found the witness that they were sent to interview. The witness was shot in the back of the head. Since it was a through and through Deeks was able to find the bullet. Deeks was busy digging out the slug from the back of the couch when he heard something that made his blood freeze. Turning around he witnessed something that shook him to his core. Kensi was not just crying but sobbing. Just sobbing uncontrollably. There before Deeks stood the love of his life crying. She was shaking from crying so much. Deeks gently takes Kensi's hand and leads her outside.

"Can you send LaSalle and Torres to finish collecting the evidence. Kensi can't stop crying and I can't leave her." Deeks tells Eric and Nell back in OP's. When Callen was put into a coma the team had a new case to work. This case was the most important case they had. Sam was not going to leave Callen in the hospital and Hetty knew that she couldn't force Sam to go home. In Sam's defense a SEAL friend had borrowed Sam's boat. Essentially making Sam temporarily homeless. Hetty accepted the fact that Sam would be at the hospital until Callen was home safe and sound and back to normal. This did however mean that Hetty was short two agents. Hetty was forced to call in the last two favors she had left. Well Gibbs was more like a friend doing a friend a solid. Dwayne Pride was a favor from when she saved his hide on more than one occasion. Pride loaned LaSalle toe Hetty until Callen's case was solved. Gibbs sent Torres to LA. Director Vance had little to no say in the arrangement. Torres jumped on a red eyed midnight flight on a military plane. LaSalle and Torres have worked together in New Orleans before it was nevertheless the first time they worked together in Los Angeles. LaSalle left on an earlier flight. With a stopover in Phoenix Arizona, Torres ended up arriving at the same time as La Salle. Both men were now met with the very tiny ninja who was Hetty Lange. Hetty had the uncanny ability to make even a battle hardened Marine cower in the corner without saying a word. The agents who work with Hetty swear that she knows all and hears all. She also possessed the ability to be in two places at once. She was in fact the only person that Gibbs was scared of.

Now at the scene of Callen's shooting LaSalle and Torres set out to collect as much evidence as they could find. At the front door LaSalle and Torres separated and moved to gather evidence in different areas of the property. Since neither LaSalle nor Torres knew Callen they were a better choice to process the scene than Deeks and Kensi. Torres moved to the backyard to find the snipers perch. He couldn't see it in the immediate backyard. The house backed up to Malibu Creek Park. Close to a 500 yards into the park Torres located the snipers perch. The indentation in the grass was that of a tripod for a M40A3 sniper rifle. Torres knew those marks since that type of rifle was the gun of choice of his boss Leroy Jethro Gibbs. This realization did help them narrow down who the shooter was since it is not available to civilians but only military personnel can have such a weapon.

Through COM's Torres says to LaSalle, "I found the snipers perch. It was a lot farther away from then you would think. A thousand yards beyond the backyard fence was the snipers perch. It's in Malibu Creek State Park."

LaSalle casually responds with "Did the sniper police his brass?" On a side note isn't Malibu Creek where they filmed M*A*S*H at.

LaSalle could hear Eric through their Coms answer his question. "Yes Malibu Creek Park used to be called Fox ranch and they filmed the T.V. Show M*A*S*H at the ranch.

Torres reply's with "yes no shell casings however I do recognize what type of gun was used. I recognize the tri-pod marks in the grass. It was a M40A3 sniper rifle. Gibbs uses a M40A1 the earlier model of rifle. It uses a .308 Winchester bullet."

The witness that Sam and Callen where there to interview was shot in the back of his head. It was a through and through. Quickly LaSalle located the slug buried deep in the back of the leather sofa. In order to not leave additional tool makes on the bullet LaSalle used a very powerful magnet to pull the bullet out without touching it. By doing this he managed to keep the striation left on the slug as it left the gun and thereby allowing the bullet to be matched to a gun should they locate the gun.

Callen worked for fifteen years in NCIS with Sam, and a decade with the CIA and DEA. Solving close to a thousand cases. The number of enemies could be immeasurable. Callen was in a coma so he couldn't help narrow it down. The only thing that they had to whittle down the number was that the shooter had to have been a military sniper to make the shot from that distance. That's assuming that the shooter wasn't just paid to shoot Callen and therefore didn't know Callen. If that was the case the team was screwed.

Having run into a wall with finding the gunman in his case, they could only attempt to work the weapons theft.

Hetty told LaSalle and Torres "you need to identify the witness that Callen and Sam were supposed to be interviewing when Callen was shot. Perhaps if we do that we might be able to find out who wanted Callen dead and why."

LaSalle responded with a phrase that Pride tells him all the time. "Go learn things, we know".

Hetty just silently laughed at the turn of phrase. "Go learn things" I gotta remember that.

DNA tests and facial recognition identified the witness as Petty Officer First Class Phil Thornsby. PFC Thornsby was a delivery driver for the company that delivered the weapons that were stolen. In fact, he was the driver of the truck that was stolen. Kensi told Deeks that "Thornsby must have seen the thieves faces and could therefore identify them. Why else kill him."

When Eric and Nell delved deeper into Thornsby's finances, they were taken aback to find a five million dollar deposit in an offshore account. That discovery made everyone question the validity of his testimony that he was thought to give Callen and Sam.

By this time the witnesses autopsy was finished. The medical examiner estimated that the witness was killed before the call to NCIS to arrange for an interview with the agents. Somebody else called the tip in. He was used to lure Callen out in a attempt to kill him. They couldn't ask the witness what he saw since he was dead. Apparently the witness was not carjacked like he said on the phone. He probably gave the keys over willingly to the arms dealer Silvano Marchi.

Again Eric and Nell followed the money and found a substantial deposit in the amount of three million dollars into a bank account of Marchi in the Cayman Islands. Both the witness and the arms dealers payments originated from the same bank account.

This account made several other payments of a substantial amount of money. The payments were four- two million dollar payments and a five million dollar payment.

The doctor and nurse had IDs on them that were totally fake. With no prints in AFIS they were at an impasse. Nell gets an idea to identify the doctor and nurse.

Telling Eric, "we follow the money. Who did the four- two million dollar deposits go to. Maybe it went to these guys."

Eric responded with "why didn't I think of that."

All four two million dollars went to brother and sister mercenaries. They were hired to kill Callen. The mercenaries were an an INTERPOL watch list. Being implicated in seven contract killings.

The brother and sister were paid to kill Callen. This only accounted for two- two million dollar payments. They were hired to kill another individual. But who? At this time the doctor was awake but had a killer head ache. LaSalle and Torres were in charge with questioning the doctors. The decision as to who were going to interview the suspect was easy it since Hetty feared if Kesi and Deeks did it, they might assault the doctor to get information. If Sam and Jack did it, they would probably water board the suspect for information. Since the suspect almost killed their partners.

LaSalle and Torres were the only ones permitted to go into the interrogation room. The suspect agreed to give them the name and address of the other victim in exchange for NCIS not charging his sister on anything. He was the big brother and the one who got her involved in mercenary work. The sister was still in a coma so they weren't planning on charging her in any case. Only he didn't know that.

Kensi and Deeks went to the address supplied by the mercenary. Noticing the door ajar Kensi and Deeks enter with their guns pulled out. While clearing each room they found a body on the bed. Shot point blank while he slept. They also establish a long range sniper rifle under the bed. Nell and Eric were talking with Kensi and

Deeks through their COM's. "The homeowner was listed as Ronan McInnish. A former gang member. He was a Marine sniper during Desert Storm" Nell told Deeks. "He had zero connection with Callen".

Someone hired him to kill Callen.

Eric and Nell were following the money again.

"When in doubt follow the money", Nell always said.

The money trail went all round the world and ended up in an offshore account of a shell company. The shell company belonged to a Brazilian billionaire Valdiron Alves. Callen killed both of his brothers about a decade before. It took a decade for him to find out who it was that killed his brothers.

He had motive and means to kill Callen. He didn't have opportunity to kill Callen. He hired a former marine sniper to shoot Callen. When the sniper failed to kill Callen Valdiron killed the sniper. He hired brother and sister mercenaries to not only kill the sniper but kill Callen at all costs.

The money trail led to Alves and the mercenaries made a deal to testify against Alves in exchange for the death penalty being carried off the table. The mercenaries were facing the death penalty for one count murder in the first degree and two counts attempted murder of a federal agent. Alves knew about the disgraced police officer who had motive to murder Callen. Alves had someone steal the cops rifle and use it to kill Callen. Thus framing him for murder.

Eric and Nell pinged Alves' phone to locate him in order to apprehend him. As usual when Deeks and Kensi along with Torres and LaSalle approached Alves he ran up the stairs. He ran to the roof of the thirty floor building. Effectively cornering himself. I mean where was he going to go. When it eventually dawned on him that he was cornered he attempted to shoot his way out. Before he could bring his gun out of his holster Deeks, Kensi, LaSalle and Torres empty all ten bullets in their guns clips into him. With the case closed Callen and Mac were able to go out of hiding and all was right. Having been nearly killed by the same people Mac and Grisha had developed a close friendship that they would not let go. They were brothers. Brothers forever. Sam was thrilled since he knew that Callen needed a friend apart from work. Mac and Callen both work for secret government agencies. They were able to blab about their cases with each other because of their clearance levels.


End file.
